Agnar
Agnar is the youngest of the Eelian Provinces and located at the far northern border of Eelia and Quarsus. Agnar encompasses the land from the southern tip of the West Wood in the north and is flanked by the Gandia Mountains in the west and the Spireclaw Mountains in the east. Its largest City is Castra Agnar, a city that grew around the legion fortress and is still a heavily walled and defensible location. The Province was born in war and conquest and has not forgotten its roots. Agnar boasts the largest provincial auxiliary in the Empire and those who live there are hard, fierce and resilient in order to survive the cold, wet weather and the near constant raids from the barbarians in Quarsus and the monsters who live in the Spireclaw. Originally ruled by one of the Prime Tyrnal families of Eelia, the Porcius, the family was stripped of their titles and deposed following the Porcius Rebellion lead by Gaius Porcius. Agnar is now ruled by the Gregos family. Capital City Agnar takes its name from the capital city of the Province. Located on the eastern banks of the North Fork river Castra Agnar was once a stone walled fortress used to protect the Empire, then the territory of Hibernar. Agnar became a Province proper at the completion of the Northern Conquest under King Denarius in the late Monarchal period and was given to the General who had engineered the conquest, Tyrne Brutus Porcius. Agnar is renowned for its military prowess, either due to its background, its rulers, or the fact that the land is harsh and unforgiving. The natural resources of Agnar are limited, revolving around mining and smaller barn animals such as sheep and pigs. There is very little trade to speak of in Agnar, though what limited trade there is from the northlands goes through Agnar. Politics Agnar is known as a “Free Province” and is widely known as the freest place in the whole of the Empire. Agnar does not play at the games of the Senate or Council and seems to have very little desire for the government of the Empire, however there are some trade-offs to being so autonomous. Agnar is a free market center, that is to say there are no regulations, restrictions or licenses over the practice of trade, there are also no taxes levied against individuals, property or sales. In this system business and people are free to flourish or fail on their own merit, there are also no state provided roads, education or security, that is not to say these things do not exist however. Roads in Agnar are plentiful and well maintained, however most are toll roads. Education can be exceptional in Agnar, however parents pay tuition for their children to attend these schools and security is usually handled individually. This system has proven to be exceptionally effective in Agnar and the people of the Province enjoy an independence and liberty unseen anywhere else in the Empire. The only real government program in the whole of the Province in the Agnarian Auxiliary, a small but exceptional Provincial Army that patrols the northern borders defending Agnar and the Empire from the barbarian raids from Quarsus. A tribute of sorts is paid to Agnar from the Imperial treasury to maintain the force, though no Agnarian sees this as a threat or an incursion of a state military, they see this as a free market exchange, money for protection with no other strings attached.? Geography The North Fork River: The main river highway in and out of Agnar and the best and fastest way to travel and trade in the Province. The Middle Fork River: The river that forms the southern border of Agnar and a secondary, though far less reliable than the North Fork. The Agnar River Valley: The stretch of land between the North and Middle Fork rivers, this is where the majority of the people of Agnar live and is the major farming belt of the region. The Border: The northern border of Agnar and Eelia, a land of heather and rock stained by hundreds of years of bloodshed between the Eelians and the Barbarians of Quarsus. The Western Spireclaw: A violent and dangerous land, nearly uninhabitable due to the cold, rocky land unfit for vegetation, ripe with monsters and whipped with dangerous storms. History The origins of Agnar are pretty straight forward. The north provinces of Miscanna, Corpath, Theria and Agnar were once ruled by Quarsian barbarians, a loose group of barbarian tribes who were a constant threat to Eelia and her people. In the late Monarchal period the raids and attacks had become so frequent and violent that King Denarius had no choice but to assemble the Legion and march northward. In typical Eelian tradition however this would be a march of conquest, taking lands and recourses in order to pay for the campaign. Agnar was the last province taken as well as the hardest. While Corpath , Miscanna and Theria were taken in three years it took another twelve to secure Aganar, and once it was secured it did not stop the barbarian raids, in fact the raids continue to this day. After the conquest Tyrne Brutus Porcius gave up his lands in Bacilia to assume control of Agnar, a controversial move but one that proved immensely profitable for the family as well as re-establishing the Porcius family as the defenders of Eelia by placing themselves between the raiding barbarians and the rest of Eelia. After the assassination of King Denarius the land fell into a feudal war for the throne. Tyrne Brutus originally put his own name in the running for the position of king, however after only a few months the Porcius family in conjunction with the Sostrate and the Agrippa families set forth a plan not to secure the throne, but to re-establish the Imperial rule of Eelia. It took many years and countless battles and negotiations but in the end the three families gathered allies to their cause and re-established the Imperial rule, ushering in the second Imperial Age of Eelia. During the First Imperial age and most of the Modern Imperial age the Porcius family were well known and loved throughout the Empire, keeping strong alliances with the other Tyrnal families, supplying large amounts of troops to the Legion and defending the northern borders against barbarian raids. However the family took a major turn under the rule of Tyrne Gaius Porcius. Gaius was the eldest of three brothers and took the throne at the age of twenty nine. Already a legend in his own time Gaius was an electrifying and charismatic individual, the likes of which the Empire had not seen in many generations. Gaius had earned fame and glory in the Legion as well as a commander of the Agnar Provisional Auxiliary. He had vastly improved the training of his troops by using a martial art of his own creation known as the Pankration. Upon the death of his father due to illness, Gaius assumed the throne and began making sweeping changes. He established the Spireclaw Regiment, an elite group of guerilla fighters to take the fight into enemy territory both in Quarsus and in the Spireclaw mountains, he instituted mandatory military training for all youths, men and women both, across the Province and hired the finest smiths from across the Empire to begin designing and building superior weapons and armor. He also raised taxes to the point of fleecing and pressed most of the able bodied men into Auxiliary service. He also created an elite group of warriors that would go on to strike terror into the hearts of everyone, enemy and Eelian alike, known as the Pankrates, the masters of his martial art. Many warriors left their homelands to join Gaius’ army, including nobility, which was unheard of up to that point in Eelia, and soon Gaius’s army looked to rival even the mighty Legions of Eelia. It was then that Emperor Gaius Aurelius died. Emperor Aurelius had served long on the Ivory Throne and was widely regarded as a truly great leader, but despite his many victories both political and military the man had left no heir to the throne and after his death the Senate called for the election of a new Emperor. Many petitioned for the position but in the end it fell to two candidates, Tyrne Gaius Porcius and Senator Quintas Maximus. Both highly skilled administrators, proven in battle and clearly capable of ruling the Empire, however in the end the Senate chose the candidate most accepted by the people and appointed Quintas Maximus to the Ivory Throne. Gaius was infuriated by the decision and returned to his lands to amass his army. Calling on the support of his oldest and strongest allies the Tyrne of Agnar, supported by the Tyrnal families of Theria , Miscanna , Phyrio , Servia , Corpath and Astravia marched on the capital of Vitalia with plans to usurp Quintas and seize the Ivory Throne for himself. It was a good plan, a strong plan, and a plan that eventually failed thanks in part to several heroes of Eelia, but mostly due to the talented statesman that now sat on the throne. After only one day of battle Gaius’ forces were stalled, but the outlook looked good for victory, however on the next day as Gaius made ready for battle he found that his allies had all struck a deal with the Emperor and had abandoned him, and now stood against him. Routed Gaius fled to the north, however he was chased the whole way and found that there was no safe refuge for him or his men, even in Agnar. Gaius fled north into Quarsus and has not been heard from since. Following the defeat of Gaius the Porcius family was stripped of their titles and lands, though none were brought to trial as co-conspirators and the Province of Agnar was turned over to Lucius Gregos, an Arch Ban then serving the Agrippa family in Ferrum . Tyrne Lucius Gregos, while still new to the throne has reversed many of the tax edicts and has put a stop to the practice of pressing men into service. Gaius’ younger brother, Brutus Porcius now serves as an advisor to the Gregos family.